Natasha Lomas
Writer
The Latest from Natasha Lomas
Amsterdam ejects Airbnb et al from three central districts in latest P2P platform limits
Another brick in the wall for vacation rental platforms: Amsterdam is booting Airbnb and other such platforms from three districts in the city’s old center from July 1, further tightening its r
Privacy not a blocker for ‘meaningful’ research access to platform data, says report
European lawmakers are eyeing binding transparency requirements for Internet platforms in a Digital Services Act (DSA) due to be drafted by the end of the year. But the question of how to create gover
GDPR’s two-year review flags lack of ‘vigorous’ enforcement
It’s more than two years since a flagship update to the European Union’s data protection regime moved into the application phase. Yet the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been
How will EC plans to reboot rules for digital services impact startups?
There's a chance for broader perspectives on platform power to shape the next decades online, and much more besides.
Antitrust case against Facebook’s ‘super profiling’ back on track after German federal court ruling
A landmark regulatory intervention that seeks to apply structural antitrust remedies to cut big (ad)tech’s rights-hostile surveillance business models down to size has been revived after Germany
On illegal hate speech, EU lawmakers eye binding transparency for platforms
It’s more than four years since major tech platforms signed up to a voluntary pan-EU Code of Conduct on illegal hate speech removals. Yesterday the European Commission’s latest assessment
Apple approves Hey bug fix update after Basecamp agrees to tweak app at center of store policy spat
Update: Basecamp has confirmed Apple has given the greenlight to a version of its app which does not include an in-app purchase option for its paid email service, Hey, but does offer a free temporary
Telegram pledges to make anti-censorship tools for Iran and China
The encrypted instant messenger Telegram said on Monday it’s ramping up efforts to develop anti-censorship technologies serving users in countries where it is banned or partially blocked, includ
TikTok joins the EU’s Code of Practice on disinformation
TikTok is the latest platform to sign up the European Union’s Code of Practice on disinformation, agreeing to a set of voluntary steps aimed at combating the spread of damaging fakes and falseho
French court slaps down Google’s appeal against $57M GDPR fine
France’s top court for administrative law has dismissed Google’s appeal against a $57M fine issued by the data watchdog last year for not making it clear enough to Android users how it pro
Germany tightens online hate speech rules to make platforms send reports straight to the feds
While a French online hate speech law has just been derailed by the country’s top constitutional authority on freedom of expression grounds, Germany is beefing up hate speech rules — passi
UK gives up on centralized coronavirus contacts-tracing app — will ‘likely’ switch to model backed by Apple and Google
The UK has given up building a centralized coronavirus contacts-tracing app and will instead switch to a decentralized app architecture, the BBC has reported. This suggests its any future app will be
Kaia Health gets $26M to show it can do more with digital therapeutics
Kaia Health, a digital therapeutics startup which uses computer vision technology for real-time posture tracking via the smartphone camera to deliver human-hands-free physiotherapy, has closed a $26 m
EU digs in on digital tax plan, after US quits talks
The European Commission has reiterated its commitment to pushing ahead with a regional plan for taxing digital services after the U.S. quit talks aimed at finding agreement on reforming tax rules R
Zoom U-turns on no e2e encryption for free users
In a major security U-turn, videoconferencing platform Zoom has said it will, after all, offer end-to-end encryption to all users — including those who do not pay to use its service. The caveat
Security decoy startup CounterCraft closes $5M Series A
Spain-based CounterCraft, which builds b2b tools for gathering counterintelligence on evolving security threats, has closed a $5M Series A. The all cash round is led by Adara Ventures, with eCAPITAL a
EU states agree a tech spec for national coronavirus apps to work across borders
European Union countries and the Commission have agreed on a technical framework to enable regional coronavirus contacts tracing apps to work across national borders. A number of European countries ha
Apple Pay and iOS App Store under formal antitrust probe in Europe
Apple is under formal investigation by antitrust regulators in European Union — following a number of complaints related to how it operates the iOS App Store and also its payment offering, Apple
Basecamp launches Hey, a hosted email service for neat freaks
Project management software maker Basecamp has launched a feature-packed hosted email service, called Hey — which they tout as taking aim at the traditional chaos and clutter of the email inbox.
Swappie bags $40.6M to sell more secondhand iPhones across Europe
Finland-based Swappie has closed a €35.8 million ($40.6M) Series B to expand into new markets in Europe. The ecommerce business refurbishes and resells used iPhones, taking care of the entire proces